Dominion Interview

Another developer has contributed to the thriving world of MMORPG's. Since Dominion wasn't be shown at this year's E3, we decided to Q one of their leading team members and find out how the project's going. David Allen of Pharaoh Productions talks to us to reveal a few details about Dominion and the current progress they made with the game.

Action Trip: As a small opening, please present yourself and your team to the crowd of AT readers. Name some of your experiences in the gaming industry. How many people are involved in the project right now?

David Allen: I am David Allen, founder of Pharaoh Productions and creator of both Dominion and Universe. I also created and wrote Mordor and Demise, as well as founded Artifact Entertainment and created Horizons.

Pharaoh's current team is very small in size since we're in the process of securing additional capital to complete Dominion. Existing members include myself, Yuri Syrov (Lead Programmer), Elvis Perry (Lead Modeler), Doug Shuler (Lead Art Designer), and Jeremy Dixon (Community Manager). There are other 'involved' people, but these are the people who specialize in their defined areas.

Where do you think you're going cutie pie?

A nice foggy morning...

AT: For anyone who hasn't heard of Dominion, explain what it is and what it's going to bring to the world of next-generation gaming.

DA: Dominion is an action-based RPG that features dynamic character development and dynamic worlds. It is being designed for both the Xbox and the PC platforms.

AT: Tell us about the storyline of Dominion.

DA: Dominion doesn't have a static storyline - instead, the game features a 'storyline repository' that is used to create the core storyline for each created world.

AT: What sort of characters will players be able to choose? Will there be any character classes?

DA: There are six races and six classes. Two types of races, the Protectors and Destroyers, and two types of Classes (or guilds), those who teach the ways of force, and those who teach the ways of magic. The Protector races are Human, Elf, and Dwarf. The Destroyer races are Talrok, Troll and Ogre.

The guilds that teach the ways of force are the Guardians, Shadows, and Rangers. The guilds that teach the ways of magic are the Druid, Mage, and Sorcerer. A detailed breakdown of these races, guilds, and other key game features is available in the public design specification, located on the main Pharaoh website.

AT: Clearly Dominion is using an advanced graphic system. Highlight some of the main features of your engine that powers Dominion.

DA: Heka (stands for magic in Egyptian), originally developed as a demonstration platform for Dominion and Universe, has a potential for use in other Pharaoh's games. The major challenge was to provide supporting technology for MMORPG's which demand higher visual and audio fidelity as well as number of dynamic and active objects in the scene than other game genres. Heka is designed to be scalable (up as well as down) and support scalable content formats, including synthetic (e.g. defined by compact initial data+algo) models, textures, animation, and even AI elements. This provides for a much richer game play environment with genetics and parameterized worlds. Real-time engine client uses proprietary rendering techniques to map world data to present hardware and maintain high frame rates and interactivity with its underlying simulation, normally managing graphics/audio rendering, animation, AI state machines, and large scale, details driven physics. The latter being a key to Heka's interactive environments. The detail-driven client exploits locality and visibility information to cache "presence locale" efficiently thus minimizing network traffic. The actual Heka features and effects list is growing and under continuous development.

AT: Do you find developing Xbox games an easier task than on the PC?

DA: Creating a game that works on both platforms is a little more complicated, since you have more serious memory and input restrictions. Finding a 'meeting point' for both is the key. In essence, the game is designed with the Xbox specs in mind, and the PC version is just a reflection of those features.

AT: You recently revealed that your game will have various magic skills and spells for players to use. Can a player utilize these skills regardless of the race he chooses? Or is it more restricted in the sense that you must be a Mage in order to cast a spell?

DA: Dominion features a buffer system where the player can add any skill, spell, attack style, or any action to the buffer system. In addition, the player can be a member of multiple guilds at once, so you can create a battle-mage. For those who choose to stay solely with melee-based guilds, they can find magical items that cast powerful spells.

I think I'll give me blade a little dip.

A pretty peaceful neighborhood.

Hiding behind the rocks.

AT: Give us a sample of warrior-like weaponry that players can employ in hand-to-hand combat. What other weapons will be presented in the game?

DA: Dominion features standards weapons - swords, daggers, maces, hammers, staves, bows, crossbows, etc. Some weapons will have a unique look and animation (or particle attachment) to them to enhance the item itself. Same with armor (armor that has flames dancing off of it is cool :))

AT: How will re-spawning work? When a player looses his life are all of his items and skills preserved or does he have to start all over again?

DA: We are going to keep the death system very simple for Dominion - one that doesn't irritate or piss off the player.

AT: Explain how the individual quests work?

DA: Each created world features a set of main and sub-quests that players within the world can work to complete. The player who completes the quest (or if you're in a group with a player that completes the quest) gains credit for the completion of the quest.

AT: Does your game include a PvP system? Will players have a choice to avoid combat if they wish to?

DA: Yes, we give the players who are in control of a MP game world the ability to set PvP options, as well as have much more control over grief/problem players than most games currently on the market.

AT: What sort of opponents will we be running into? Are you planning to incorporate a strong AI into non-player characters?

DA: With the unique monster class/subclass generation system that Dominion uses, there are literally thousands, if not tens of thousands of variances of monsters the player can run into - at this point, I think we have 80 unique models defined, but depending on the 'type' of creature, the models can take on a completely different look.

AT: Is NPC interaction relative to gameplay?

DA: NPCs either a) offer services (merchants), or b) consolidate tasks/quests. That's about it.

AT: By your assessment, what will be the most appealing facets of Dominion be?

DA: The simplicity of the game will allow new players to easily jump into the world of Dominion and enjoy what it has to offer - but the underlying scope and size will allow those who wish to play the game to the bone to experience a game that can literally be played indefinitely - and more importantly, to play with others.

AT: Does your team have any other game-projects currently in the works? Or are you completely focused on Dominion?

DA: Right now, we are currently focused on Dominion. Our next project is Universe, but that's years away.

AT: When can we expect the Pharaoh Gaming Network to start functioning? When are the first Dominion copies going to be available for purchase?

DA: Our goal is to be in BETA by Q2 of 2003, and to be in stores by Christmas of 2003. Of course all of this depends on when we raise the remaining capital necessary for the project.